STK 3 - Troubleshooting SQL Toolkit licensing problems
Brian Donahue
Posts: 6,590 Bronze 1
Date: 5 August 2004
Affects: SQL Toolkit versions 3.x
SQL Toolkit allows you to create stand-alone applications using Red Gate’s shared SQL libraries (RedGate.SQLCompare.Engine.dll, RedGate.SQLDataCompare.Engine.dll, and RedGate.SQL.Shared.dll) that can compare and synchronize databases. The licence for this product is a per-developer licence and up to 100 applications can be compiled per company. Toolkit projects are different from other programs in the SQL Bundle because they do not need to be ‘activated’ after they are compiled.
The mechanism behind this is the Licence Compiler shipped with Visual Studio .net (lc.exe). For a full description about lc.exe and how it works, please reference Microsoft’s website at http://windowsforms.net/articles/Licensing.aspx
The licence compiler embeds the licensing information into the executable that’s produced by Visual Studio using the Toolkit so that there will be no ‘nag requester’ or product activation necessary.
The first thing that you need to ensure when compiling a Toolkit project is that you have added a licenses.licx file. To do this from Visual Studio:
• Right-click on the project in the Solution Explorer
• Select Add->New Item
• Click on Text File, and enter the name ‘licenses.licx’
• Enter the following text in licenses.licx depending on the Red Gate Libraries you have referenced in the project:
o If you are referencing the DataCompare assembly, enter RedGate.SQLDataCompare.Engine.ComparisonSession
o If you are referencing the SQL Compare engine, enter RedGate.SQLCompare.Engine.Database
o No entries are necessary for RedGate.SQL.Shared!
Please keep in mind that anything you put in licenses.licx is case-sensitive.
When you go to build your project, you should then be prompted to activate your copy of Toolkit. If you know that you have already activated previously, don’t let that concern you because only activations done on distinctly different machine hardware will count against your total activations.
If the activation is successful, the RedGate.Licensing.Helper should create a SQL Toolkit.lic file and embed that information into your program.
To test that it’s all working, copy the executable that you built and the RedGate assemblies (RedGate.SQLCompare.Engine.dll, etc) to the same folder on another machine and run the executable. If a nag requester does not appear telling you that you are running an unlicensed application, then the licensing has been successful.
If you want to make absolutely sure that the licensing information has been embedded without running the application from another machine, you can open the executable in Notepad.exe and search for your serial number inside the file. If you find your licence number as plain-text inside your assembly, you know that the licence information was properly embedded.
Affects: SQL Toolkit versions 3.x
SQL Toolkit allows you to create stand-alone applications using Red Gate’s shared SQL libraries (RedGate.SQLCompare.Engine.dll, RedGate.SQLDataCompare.Engine.dll, and RedGate.SQL.Shared.dll) that can compare and synchronize databases. The licence for this product is a per-developer licence and up to 100 applications can be compiled per company. Toolkit projects are different from other programs in the SQL Bundle because they do not need to be ‘activated’ after they are compiled.
The mechanism behind this is the Licence Compiler shipped with Visual Studio .net (lc.exe). For a full description about lc.exe and how it works, please reference Microsoft’s website at http://windowsforms.net/articles/Licensing.aspx
The licence compiler embeds the licensing information into the executable that’s produced by Visual Studio using the Toolkit so that there will be no ‘nag requester’ or product activation necessary.
The first thing that you need to ensure when compiling a Toolkit project is that you have added a licenses.licx file. To do this from Visual Studio:
• Right-click on the project in the Solution Explorer
• Select Add->New Item
• Click on Text File, and enter the name ‘licenses.licx’
• Enter the following text in licenses.licx depending on the Red Gate Libraries you have referenced in the project:
o If you are referencing the DataCompare assembly, enter RedGate.SQLDataCompare.Engine.ComparisonSession
o If you are referencing the SQL Compare engine, enter RedGate.SQLCompare.Engine.Database
o No entries are necessary for RedGate.SQL.Shared!
Please keep in mind that anything you put in licenses.licx is case-sensitive.
When you go to build your project, you should then be prompted to activate your copy of Toolkit. If you know that you have already activated previously, don’t let that concern you because only activations done on distinctly different machine hardware will count against your total activations.
If the activation is successful, the RedGate.Licensing.Helper should create a SQL Toolkit.lic file and embed that information into your program.
To test that it’s all working, copy the executable that you built and the RedGate assemblies (RedGate.SQLCompare.Engine.dll, etc) to the same folder on another machine and run the executable. If a nag requester does not appear telling you that you are running an unlicensed application, then the licensing has been successful.
If you want to make absolutely sure that the licensing information has been embedded without running the application from another machine, you can open the executable in Notepad.exe and search for your serial number inside the file. If you find your licence number as plain-text inside your assembly, you know that the licence information was properly embedded.
